Dinesh Chandimal returned from a four-match suspension to help his side secure a three-wicket victory over South Africa in the one-off Twenty20 International, stoically battling on as his team-mates faltered around him.
Chandimal, who admitted it was tough watching the game from home “especially because you don’t have injury”, scored a 33-ball 36 to guide a nervy chase and see Sri Lanka through. It might not have been a startling knock on the first glance at the scorecard, but the importance of his innings can’t be overstated, given the collapse Sri Lanka endured.
The hosts spun South Africa into oblivion in the first innings, dismissing them for 98 – their lowest ever T20I total. However, a spirited comeback with the ball sneaked the Proteas back into the game late on.
Sri Lanka’s Test captain, Chandimal, was watchful in his approach, though, and adapted his style as if he were playing the longer format. “Before the game started, we thought it was a good pitch for batters. It was up and down, some sharp turn, it was tough for the batters,” he said.
“When I went to bat, we were one down, and after I faced four-five balls, I realised it was not a T20 wicket and just rotated strike. I just played like Test cricket. We all know South Africa are good, it was a good fight from them.”
Skipper Angelo Mathews was absolutely delighted with the result. He hailed the loyalty of the home fans after their 3-2 loss in the ODI series, in which they lost the first three matches before fighting back to respectability.
“Towards the end, we made it difficult for us but it was fantastic bowling. We have to blame only us because we did not bat well and kept losing wickets,” said Mathews. “The experience they’ve got, we have to put in such a performance.
“You can see the improvements in various departments. Different conditions, but we are high on confidence. We let the fans down in the ODIs but they did not give up on us.”
Meanwhile, JP Duminy, the stand-in South Africa captain, was realistic in his assessment of proceedings.
“In the context of the game, 30-40 runs would have made a difference. We took the positive route but it did not work,” he said. “We will take a lot of positives from this tour. It wasn’t a raging turner, but key is to understand options and the execution.
“Again, lot of positives. The seamers did the damage for us, but we were 30-40 runs short in the end. It’s good to lead from the front but unfortunately did not lead with the bat.
“I think coming here and after losing 2-0 in Test matches, we had to change our mindset and fortunate enough we put our best foot forward in the ODIs. We have a few weeks off to rethink and get better. End of September, we have a series against Zimbabwe, hopefully we do well there.”
